Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors discussion

I thought I'd start a topic about the Top 10. The best 10 books you've ever read. Mostly, I'm hoping to get a few suggestions.
1. Bloody Jack - L.A. Meyer
2. Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury
3. Dragon Wing - Weis and Hickman
4. 1984 - George Orwell
5. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
6. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy
7. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
8. Zazoo - Richard Mosher
9. Extras - Scott Westerfield
10. Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's BoyDandelion WineDragon Wing1984The Princess BrideThe Scarlet PimpernelConfessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A NovelZazooExtras

DANDELION WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, how I love thee. Or anything written by the good Mr. Bradbury for that matter. ^_^ I actually met the guy. Let me tell you, he is pretty amazing.

I loved Dandelion wine. Absolutely adored it. And I was thrilled wen Forever Summer came out. Oh love. As well as of course, 451, which is an amazing classic.

I must read Forever Summer. I love Something Wicked This Way Comes, Martian Chronicles, Driving Blind, The Illustrated Man, and, of course, 451. It was the first one I read. *waves a thank you to the English teacher who made it a mandatory read*

Oh yeah, and Let's All Kill Constance was amazing, too.

1. This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
2. Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
3. The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again - J.R.R. Tolkien
4. First Blood - David Morrell
5. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
6. Conan: Conan of Cimmeria - Robert E. Howard
7. The Erection Set - Mickey Spillane
8. Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven
9. Grendel - John Champlin Gardner Jr.
10. Jhereg - Steven Brust

Oh!Oh! Me too.
1. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned- Anne Rice
2. River God - Wilbur Smith
3. Warlock - Wilbur Smith
4. Atlantis Found - Clive Cussler
5. Nefertiti - Michelle Moran
6. The Host - Stephanie Meyer
7. The Book of the Dead - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
8. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice
9. Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice
10.Queen of the Damned - Anne Rice

Lynn

If you use the 'add book/author' link to insert them, they show up on the topic (on the right, also under 'more') & groups reading list. Also, if someone looks up the book, this topic would then be listed as one of the places it is discussed. IOW, it helps tie the threads of the book together on GR & makes the place a better database.

It is more work & the search for the book/author isn't always the friendliest. I try to use it whenever possible, although it can be a real pain over dial-up.

Top ten books? Hmmm...
1. Dune - Frank Herbert - and most of his other stuff as well
2. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien - counting the Hobbit as the prequel
3. Ringworld - Larry Niven (although I love Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall too)
4. Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke - and all his other stuff
5. City - Clifford Simak
6. I am Legend - Richard Matheson
7. All the H P Lovecraft works
8. It - Stephen King
9. Every Dead Thing - John Connolly
10.Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner

Alright, so I cheated and got a lot more than 10 books in there, but nevermind...

Let's see, mine will be varied, and not necessarily in order of preference.

To Tame a Land, by Louis L'Amour
The Swords of Night and Day, by David Gemmell
Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard
A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Murder in the Wind, by John D. MacDonald.
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, by Stirling
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
They Thirst, by Robert McCammon
Nightrunners, by Joe Lansdale
Misery, by Stephen King

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by David Letterman"

/What/?

I got to try... Just my favorites

The Wheel of Time / Robert Jordan
Wizards First Rule / Terry Goodkind
The Sillmarilion / J. R. R. Toliken
Brisingr / Christopher Poalini
A Song of Ice and Fire / George R. R. Martin
The Hobbit / J. R. R. Toliken

Awww, I ran out... ....

I really hated the Sillmarilion. I couldn't get all the way through it. Maybe I should go back and try and read it again...

yhea my first try was hard, but I consider myself weird (in the head) for liking it.

Gary, I am so there with you on the Black Jewels Trilogy and Daughter of the Forest. Juliet Marillier is my favorite author ever. I'm going to confine this list to fav sci-fi/fantasy b/c if I include other books I would not be able to hold it to 10.

1. Daughter of the Forest(Sevenwaters Series) by Juliet Marillier
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
4. Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey
5. Exiles Trilogy by Melanie Rawn
6. Poison Study by Maria Snyder
7. The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
8. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
9. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
10. The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I guess most of those are Fantasy. But all of those books I just could not get enough of.

pls try Sergei Lukyanenko
1.Night Watch
2.Day Watch
3.Twilight Watch
4.Last Watch...
Very Very good...please do not compare to movies (both first films are so BAD!)...all four books nicely writing (again was reading in Russian not sure about translation), not just some sci-fi, stupid vampires, black force fantasy...these books also show good moral values...choice b/w good and bad...

Ooh, lists! I love lists of books! You will note that most on my list are trilogies (or more). It's just too darn hard to tell a really good story in just one volumne don'tcha know! These are books I have read more than once or hanging on to so I can read them again.

Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
The Harry Potter series, Rowling
The Vorkosigan Saga, Bujold
Moving Mars, Bear
The Horatio Hornblower series, Forester
The Farseer Trilogy, Hobb
Ender's Game and Shadow, Card
The Shining, King
The Stand, King
Old Man's War triology, Skalzi

I bet he is! Have you read his "Zen and the Art of Writing"? It's the most fun book about writing ever.


Kjersti but you can call me Captain wrote: "DANDELION WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, how I love thee. Or anything written by the good Mr. Bradbury for that matter. ^_^ I actually met the guy. Let me tell you, he is pretty amazing."

So hard to pick only ten! And so hard to pick only ten that haven't been mentioned by everyone else already. Some of these would be my top ten today, some of them were my top ten when I read them at different times in life and they're not in any order, ie not best to last or last to best or anything like that:

1. "The Left Hand of Darkness," Ursula Le Guin
2. "American Gods," Neil Gaiman
3. "Stump," Niall Griffiths
4. "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel," Robert Heinlein
5. "Runt," Niall Griffiths
6. "Boy's Life," Robert McKammon
7. "Araminta Station," Jack Vance (and rest of series)
8. "Time of the Dark," Barbara Hambly (and rest of series)
9. "Norse Gods and Giants," by Ingri D'Aulaire and Edgar D'Aulaire
10. "The Illustrated Man," Ray Bradbury

im going 2 try to so...
1.NARNIA;C.S.lewis
2.the olympians(the entire series);rick riordan
3.breaking down;stephenie meyer
4.twilight;stephenie meyer
5.Blood and Chocolate;Annette curtis klause
6.The water horse;Dick king smith
7.the lords of the rings;tolkien
8.moby dick;hernan melville
9.how i love thee;lurlene mcdaniel
10.the silver kiss;Annette curtis klause

"Stick to your hands" - Good
(I found myself walking around while reading with these, sometimes actually walking into things and people.)
1. Wheel of Time series- Robert Jordan
2. Neverwhere - Gaiman
3. Steven Brust's Vlad series - including the "Historical Romances"

You'll read it twice Good - These got set back onto my "To Read" shelf when I finished them
4. American Gods - Gaiman
5. Sandman - Gaiman
6. Book of the New Sun tetralogy - Wolf

These are in no particular order, but I will always love and enjoy reading the following books:

1. The Great and Secret Showby Clive Barker

2. Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

3. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

4. The Sandman Vol. 1 Preludes and Nocturnes through The Sandman Vol. 10 The Wake by Neil Gaiman

5. Keep the Aspidistra Flyingby George Orwell

6. V for Vendettaby Alan Moore

7. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe through The Last Battleby C.S. Lewis

8. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMHby Robert O'brien

9. American Gods Anansi Boys Coffret 2 volumesby Neil Gaiman

10. The Return of the Nativeby Thomas Hardy

In no particular order:

1.Wizards First Rule
2.Stone Of Tears
3.Neuromancer
4.Enders Shadow
5.Shadow Puppets
6.The Princess Bride
7.The Horse and His Boy
8.The Host
9.Doctor Who
10.The Hobbit or There And Back Again

Tomi wrote: "Ender's Game and Shadow, Card
"

If you liked them, try "Shadow Puppets" and/or "Enders War"

I did, I liked them! But I found Ender's Game and Shadow exceptional and worthy of permanent book shelf space(my personal gage of a good book).

I'd have to go with... (in no particular order)

1. [Book: A Game of Thrones]
2. [Book: Good Omens]
3. [Book: Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows]
4. [Book: 1984]
5. [Book: The Sword of Shannara]
6. [Book: Starship Troopers]
7. [Book: The Great Hunt]
8. [Book: Snow Crash]
9. [Book: Neverwhere]
10. [Book: Childhood's End]

Wow this is pretty cool,
ok here is my top ten

1. The Malazan series (Erikson)
2. Once A Hero ( Michael A. Stackpole)
3. The Name of the Wind ( Patrick Rothfuss)
4. Hells Gate (David Weber & Linda Evans )
5. Into the Darkness ( Harry Turtledove)
6.Dragonlance Chronicles ( Weis & Hickman)
7. Fellowship of the Ring ( Tolkien)
8. The Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks)
9 The Iron Tower (Dennis L. McKiernan)
10. Covenants ( Lorna Freeman)

Book of Lies

DaVinci Code


My 2 cents!

It's fiction.

Here's mine today, in no particular order. Series list first book first:
1. Someplace to be Flying- Charles de Lint
2. Shards of Honor- Lois McMaster Bujold
3. The Sparrow- Mary Doria Russell
4. Melusine- Sarah Monette
5. Sharp Teeth- Toby Barlow
6. Territory- Emma Bull
7. Wold War Z- Max Brooks
8. Briar Rose- Jane Yolen
9. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
10. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay- Michael Chabon

1) the stand by steven king, i read this book in one night, and wasn't even aware of time passing
2) trinity by leon uris
3) youngblood hawke by herman wouk
4) the fountainhead by ayn rand
5) cashelmara by susan howatch
6) the crystal cave and hollow hill by mary stewart
7) 6 moon dance by sherri s tepper
8) angelica by sharon shinn
9) sunshine by robin mckinley
10) neverwhere by neil gaiman

not all in that order, and WOW there are so many books in here I've never even heard of. I'd better get busy!

Michael, wrote: "Book of Lies
DaVinci Code
My 2 cents!"

Why would you bother with that remark in this topic?

Just joined this group and read everybody's list. I am totally surprised that only one reader listed Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass). IMHO the best fantasy series ever written.
Gerry C.

Great list...love Maguire.
Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes is awesome. His Dark Materials is one of my favorites, plus my new favorite is the Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko

Irishka wrote: "pls try Sergei Lukyanenko
1.Night Watch
2.Day Watch
3.Twilight Watch
4.Last Watch...
Very Very good...please do not compare to movies (both first films are so BAD!)...all four books nicely wri..."

I'm reading DayWatch right now and love it. Haven't seen the movies, maybe I won't bother. Once I pick the book up I don't want to put it down. I read NightWatch two times back to back.

Dragonlance! You rock, JEFF. I loved the death gate series better though.

I'd have to say in no particular order:
1/ Dune by Frank Herbert
2/ LOTR - Tolkien
3/ Ringworld - Larry Niven
4/ Lucifer's Hammer - Niven and Pournelle
5/ The Puppet Masters - Heinlein
6/ Every Dead Thing - John Connolly
7/ Red Dragon - Thomas Harris
8/ Monstrum - Donald James
9/ The Ghosts of Sleath - James Herbert
10/ Salem's Lot - Stephen King

In no order:
1984 (Orwell)
Brave New World (Huxley)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
Ensayo sobre la Ceguera (Saramago)
Dune (Herbert)
Ender's Game (Scott Card)
Pet Cemetery (King)
The Hobbit (Tolkien)
Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut)
Cien Años de Soledad (Marquez)

All classics, never really liked any book series though.

A list of some of my favourites (in no particular order):

1 Dune- Frank Herbert
2 The Sarantine Mosaic (Sailing to Sarantium/Lord of Emperors)- Guy Gavriel Kay
3 Sword Dancer- Jennifer Roberson
4 Left Hand of Darkness- Ursala Le Guin
5 American Gods- Neil Gaiman
6 Druids- Morgan Llywelyn
7 The Deed of Paksenarrion- Elizabeth Moon
8 Dragonriders of Pern- Anne McCaffrey
9 The Lions of Al-Rassan- Guy Gavriel Kay
10 Storm Front- Jim Butcher

I'm new to Goodreads...Hi everybody!!!
Here's the top ten SF/Horror/fantasy I couldn't put down:
1) The Stand-Stephan King
2) Lord of the Rings Trilogy-Tolkien
3) Titan Trilogy-Varley
4) Stranger in a Strange Land-Heinlein
5) Altered Carbon-Morgan
6) Ender's Game-Card
7) American Gods-Gaiman
8) The Road-McCarthy
9) Time Enough for Love-Heinlein
10)Swan Song-McKammon

Gerald wrote: "Just joined this group and read everybody's list. I am totally surprised that only one reader listed Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass). IMHO the best fanta..."

This series was amaing...inredible concepts and writing. I want to read it again...